Political science is about cooking, says Bihar topper; govt to recheck papers

Patna: After questions were raised over the quality of Class 12 Science and Arts toppers this year in Bihar, the state government has decided to conduct their interview and a special team will re-examine their answer sheets, officials said on Wednesday. The Bihar School Examination Control Board (BSEB) that conducted the Class 12 exams, has invited Class 12 Science, Arts and Commerce toppers to appear in an interview on 3 June after it was reported that toppers lack even basic knowledge of their subjects. “The Bihar School Exam Committee of the education department has decided for the first time to conduct interview of the toppers of Class 12 exams. A committee of the education board will take their interview,” an official of the board said. BSEB chairman, Lalkeshwar Prasad Singh said that action will be taken against toppers if they failed in the interview and their results will be cancelled too. [caption id=“attachment_2810814” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational Image. Reuters[/caption] Bihar Education Minister Ashok Choudhary has already said that action will be taken against officials found guilty in this connection. Rubi Kumari, who topped in Class 12 (intermediate) Arts stream this year, did not know about her own subjects. For her, political science is a subject that imparts information about cooking. Similarly, Saurabh Sresth, who topped in Class 12, did not have the basic knowledge of science. He said that aluminium is an active element in response to a question. But when asked about sodium and electrons, he failed to reply. Rubi, who topped in the exams conducted by the BSEB, shocked and surprised all when she told a local TV channel that one of her subjects was ‘Prodical Science’, instead of political science. Interestingly, Rubi like most of the students in Bihar, wants to become an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer. Saurabh wants to become a scientist. Both Rubi and Saurabh are from a college in Vaishali district in Bihar. That is not all. Rubi is also not aware about the subjects in her Class 12 exams. She revealed that Class 12 exams was of 600 marks but actually it was of 500 marks. She secured 444 out of 500 marks and became the Bihar Arts topper. Taking serious note of this development, the BSEB has ordered a probe into their merits and the examiners who evaluated their answer sheets. This year, the board claimed that Class 12 exams were conducted free of cheating and a drastic fall in the pass percentage is a proof of it. “The strict measures against cheating, including CCTV cameras and prohibitory orders against unlawful assembly in conducting the exams in February this year, resulted in fall in pass percentage,” a board official said. Till last year, mass cheating in board exams was reported. This year it was not reported.